"Normal" reactions when switching foods?

[Proud Mommy]

Hi all,

I am hoping someone might be able to help me out. I have a 3 year old boxer who has experienced food allergies and intolerances since he came into our family at 8 weeks old. I have not been able to isolte the cause of these reactions to a particular food ingredient. To make a very long story short, we have tried many, many different food over the years. Some were "crap" foods, others were higher in quality. Some Bosco reacted right away too, others he was okay for a year before he reacted. His reaction generally takes the form of a rash, bright red lips and belly (in the evenings especially), and sometimes incredibly large hives (the size of my palms) all over his body.

We are in the process of switching Bosco and his brother from Proplan Sensitive Skin and Stomach (Salmon) to Performatrin Ultra Chicken and Brown Rice. I know that this is a very drastic change in quality and will likely shock my poor guys, so I have begun introducing it 3 parts old food, 1 part new food. This is day 2. My question...

I do not want to misinterpret a "normal" transition for an allergy or intolerance. What is normally expected when making a food change like this one, and how long should I allow symptoms to last before ruling out the food? For example, Bosco loves the new food mixture (he tries to only eat the new food kibbles) and eats a fair amount. He then seems excessively thirsty and drinks a ton of water. He currently has runny stools. Again, this is only day 2 of the transition, still at a 3:1 ratio. Is this normal? Should I wait for the runny stools to improve before going to the 50/50 mixture? If runny stools are normal during the transition, how long is too long? My vet said that diarhea for longer than a few days can cause colitus in dogs. My vet has not been very helpful in terms of food selection or a solutions for Bosco's reactions.

Any help and suggestions are appreciated - and thanks to DFA for helping me in my efforts to do some research on dog food

 

[gmacleod]

I'm not sure that you can really define "normal" with a food switch. Well, I guess you can - normal is no reaction or observable change at all. Not every dog copes easily with food changes though, so it still wouldn't be abnormal to see some signs of tummy upset such as upset tummy or loose stools (which are usually avoidable with a slow change). Allergic type reactions though, are certainly not normal.

...others he was okay for a year before he reacted.

That's actually the surest way to induce a food allergy - by feeding the same thing day in and day out for an extended period. The vast majority of allergies are things that build up over time, with constant exposure. This is why the advice of nutritionists is to vary your dog's food, perferably from a very young age, and NOT to feed the same thing all the time for extended periods.

Has your dog ever been fed foods containing either chicken or rice or any of the other major ingredients of performatrin previously? If he has, that food is unlikely to be a good choice for him.

 

[Proud Mommy]

Thanks so much for the response. I now understand that we were on the wrong track - we have been in search of one type of food that Bosco could tolerate for the rest of his life, when really we should have been alternating foods to prevent long-term exposure to the same ingredients.

How often do you suggest changing foods? Also, would it be best to never feed the same food twice, or to simply cycle between 2-3 different foods thereby feeding the same food on a cyclical basis. And finally, should each food be different from the other in every way possible (ie different meat source, different grain source, different fat etc.)?

My boys will certainy enjoy our new approach - they love it when we bring a new bag of food home!

Thanks again for your help - I have read many of your posts and I appreciate your knowledgeable opinion.

 

[gmacleod]

If your dog is able to tolerate food switches quite easily, then changing foods every bag or every other bag is generally the best way to go. You can certainly re-use a food, but its good if there have been 2-3 different foods in between.

And yes, the foods should be as different as possible. Dogs don't just develop allergies to meats, but also to grains proteins, and other ingredients too. Its even harder to find a food the dog can eat if he's developed an allergy to rice, for example, than it is if its just chicken that needs to be avoided - so it makes every bit of sense to reduce the risk of that happening.